Claim
Livestock uses around three-quarters of the world's agricultural land while supplying under a fifth of its calories.
Most farmland feeds animals, not people directly. That land delivers a relatively small share of our food.
- Last reviewed
- Reviewer
- Editorial placeholder
- Status
- sample
Sample data. The figures and sources on this page are demonstration records showing how evidence will be presented. They are approximate and have not yet been through our review process. Read about how we will verify evidence.
Why this rating: Land-use figures come from consistent global land and agricultural datasets.
Supported by multiple systematic reviews or large, consistent studies using different methods, with few plausible alternative explanations.
Explanation
Grazing land plus land growing crops for animal feed makes up most of global farmland.
Because animals convert feed into meat, milk and eggs inefficiently, that land delivers fewer calories and less protein than if it grew food for people, although much grazing land could not grow crops.
Limitations
- A large share of grazing land is not suitable for crops, so it is not a like-for-like substitution.
Methodology
- Land areas from FAO and satellite datasets, combined with calorie and protein supply accounts.
Sources for this claim
Each source links to our record of what it found, its limitations and what we used it for, with a link to the original.
- 1Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers
Joseph Poore, Thomas Nemecek (2018). Science.